Wheeled and/or levered snow shovels have been proposed, capable of scraping and gathering, lifting, dumping and launching quantities of material such as snow with a reduced amount of physical exertion and strain on the operator, especially on the spine.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20050160633 Inventor Mark Noonan filed on Jul. 28, 2005 discloses a relatively large wheeled shovel having a handle formed at the end of an elongated yoke, the yoke in the middle is supporting through a wheel axle of a large wheel for the purpose of picking up of a load, transporting it to a location, and propelling the load over-board with quick arm/body motion on the part of a person operating on the handle. The substantially waist-high wheel is adapted to receive the body force of an operator as an effective leverage through the handle and causes a recoil action from the wheel to enhance the throwing power of the apparatus of the invention, comprising the shovel, the wheel and the yoke as the driving member.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20050160632 inventor Cyril Williams filed on Jul. 28, 2005 discloses a wheeled shovel with pivot mounted behind the scoop. Upon activation of a release lever, the scoop head is allowed to rotate downward, hence dumping its load. A wheel assembly mounted to an intermediate portion of the frame supports the scoop in an inclined position. Furthermore, the wheel assembly acts as a fulcrum whereby downward pressure on the handlebars of the shovel elevates the scoop for ease of transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,735,887 issued to Mohiuddin Muzzammel on May 18, 2004 discloses a wheeled shovel with a pair of large wheels placed well behind the snow scoop.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,921 issued to Vernon Samuelson on Jul. 6, 1999 discloses a levered shovel with wheel assembly connected to approximately the centre of the handle shaft of a shovel, which wheel acts as a fulcrum for the shovel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,327 issued to Marlin/Kevin Jurkowski on Apr. 30, 1996 discloses a cart-like structural wheeled shovel having a wheel centrally located. The wheel acts as a fulcrum in order to elevate the scoop by pressing downward on the handlebar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,894 issued to Sam Emma on Dec. 1, 1981 discloses a cart-like structural wheeled shovel with wheel centrally positioned and manually operated lever and when lever is activated, it causes the scoop to rotate downward thus dumping the load off the scoop.
The present tilting shovel head has been developed to address these problems, and preventing slippage on ice, and in which the launch-off is due to centrifugal force which pivots around a wheel resting on the ground toward the operator.
The tilting shovel head is coupled with a spring-loaded mechanism which alters the centrifugal circular-upward force; hence the launch is diverted to a forward launch direction.
Although, the above devices each may be useful for its intended purpose, it would be beneficial to the field to have an alternative combination of wheel/lever shovel which overcomes these limitations.